Turnbull gives stamp of approval to postal vote on republic

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull says a postal vote similar to the same- sex marriage plebiscite could be used to determine how Australia elects a president under a republic.

Mr Turnbull yesterday spoke about how the nation could move to sever ties with the monarchy at the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

It follows former prime minister Paul Keating lashing out at Mr Turnbull, who was head of the Republican movement in Australia during the 1999 referendum, as a “chameleon” on the republic issue.

Mr Turnbull said he expected the republic issue to come up again after the Queen’s reign ends, but there first needed to be an “open and honest discussion” on how a president would be appointed.

“It may be a plebiscite or may even be a postal survey. Given the success of the postal survey, it could be one way to deal with that,” Mr Turnbull said. He said whether a president would be chosen by Parliament in a bipartisan twothirds majority as proposed in 1999 or directly elected was “the rock on which the referendum floundered”.

But he talked down the chances of Australia becoming a republic in the near future.

“There is no point pretending that there is an appetite for change when there isn’t one at the moment,” he said.

In July, Labor said it would put a voluntary vote on a republic to the Australian people in its first term in office.